The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1879. CITY ELECTION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 203, 8 September 1879, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1879. CITY ELECTION.

The result of the polling on Saturday was in the main what was generally anticipated, as it was generally believed that the " two lawyers '" would come out at the head of the list, but it was scarcely expected that the. gap between the second and third would be so large as it was, and that such a crushing majority was to be recorded agaipst Mf Curtis, who on Saturday went to the- poll foi the tenth, and was beaten for the first, time, he having come successfully out of three contests for the Provincial Council, three for the Superintendence, ..andj three for. the House of Representatives. He has.iioiv, however, been discharged from the service of those for whom he has worked for thirteen years, aud the large majority accorded to big opponents proved beyond doubt that this wa3 no accident, but that the determination existed to exclude ... him at all hazards. There are very few indeed who" have been in the New Zealand Parliament so long as Mr Curtis who have . succeeded in keeping themselves so free- froiH all suspicion of corruption or of being actuated in giving their votes by some motive outside the welfare of their constituents. After, v thirteen years in the House, Mr Curtis leares ' it with perfectly clean hands, and carrying with him the respect and esteem of all who have during that time taken part in the politics of the country, whether in conjunction with or in opposition to him. Tbe number, of those who voted on Saturday was 801, out of the 1089 who are 'on the' roll. If the whole of them had voted for two candidates, the number of votes recorded, would have beea_l6o2, but -as, instead of that, it was. oniy TJ3SI, it follows that there must have been 25 V plumpers, or in other words that something over 16 per cent of the voting power of those who went to the poll was not exercised. The «xcite«Liept . during the afternoon was nftt eft gfteat, v af|t would have been, or at aIVe vents was not so apparent, on account of the rain which was falling in torrents, but in that anxious time between the closing and the declaration of the poll, the doubt and uncertainty by which the ballot is surrounded was painfully manifest on the faces of some of the candidates and of their supporters. When the numbers came from the Oddfellows' Hall. Mr Curtis's friend^ knew that his fate was sealed, as the majority secured by the two leaders was too great to leave him any reasonable hope of working up against it at the other polling place. About half-past five a practical joke was played by one or two individuals who hurried down from the Provincial Hall with what purported to be the returns from there, by which Mr Pitt was placed at the head of the poll by an enormous majority. There was a rush to the Masonic Hall, his Committee room, the iuside of which in tho course of about two minutes closely resembled a well packed sardine tin, and deafening cheers pealed forth from the excited crowd. But in the course of a minute or two, Mr Adams' supporters had ascertained that the return was a spurious one, and they sent up a cheer which had the effect of producing a rush from the Masonic Hall to Mr Adams' office, where tjj§y learned the joke that had been played off ifyon them. It was nearly six o'clock before the real t state of tbe poll was made known, and' then the pent-up excitement of the supporters of the winning candidates found vent in loud and repeated cheers, and the surplus energy of some scores of them was devoted to dragging their men triumphantly round the town in carriages. Shortly afterwards the crowds dispersed, and an hour" late* no stranger walking through, the; streets would have supposed that the town had that day gone through the excitement of an election. This was probably owing to the fact that, throughout, the contest had been conducted in a most orderly manner, and with the best of good humour. The following was the result of the poll :—

We are glad to learn that arrangements are being made for a steamer to"Vun'across to Waitapu on Wedneaday J night in order to take over electors for the district who are residing in Nelson to vote for ' Mr Gibbs on Thursday next. It appears that all the assistance tbat can be rendered from here will be necessary, as the gentleman from Canterbury on the one hand is misleading the electors by his rash promises that he will bring about impossibilities, and the gentleman from Dunedin on the other is beguiling them by his seductive eloquence and the contingent that will arrive there by steamer on Thursday morning will be a welcome addition to Mr Gibbs' little army of staunch supporters. It will have been seen by our report of the nomination proceedings in Saturday's issue that Mr Armstrong has confessed himself to be the nominee of the WelliLgton Liberal Association, of which Sir George Grey is the head. In other words he has been sent here by the Government to attempt to break up that compact body- of Nelson members who lajt year stood up so manfully against the injustice .proposed to be perpetrated on Nelson. A proof of the strength of that body is to be ; found in 'this attempt on the part of the Garerpmerit to disintegrate it, and the people of Nelson cannot be too careful to ensure the defeat of the object of Mr Armstrong's visit to this !r lri » C , t- TT There is m »ch reason to believe that Mr Huddleston's endeavor to secure a seat la to be attributed to a similar desire though arising perhaps . from another quarter. We trnst Ithat every Collingwood elector resident on this side of the Bay who has the interests of the district at h_eart w ju make an effort} to go over on Wednesday and resist this attempt to convertL a Nelson constituency into a dependency of either Otago or Canterhury. , Being much impressed with the earnestness and persistence displayed by Mr Rowel! at the recent meetings in connection with s the boat landing, which, as he properly described it, is the only road to the harbor we made it our business to go down to the Port and ascertain whether or not his complaints were made with just cause. We should like others to do the same, and they will then see for themselves the disgraceful condition into which, through the neglect of the proper authorities, the landing has been allowed to fall. At low water it is absolutely useless, and shortly before and after that stage of the tide it is most dangerous, the flooring at the lower end being perfectly rotten, and the battens which were nailed across, in order to give a foot" hold, having disappeared long ago. To put the matter shortly, this boat landing, as it 1 is called, is a scandal to thai place, andithe harbor master ought to have long ago so forcibly represented the matter to the proper authorities as to ensure the necessary j repairs being made, I

Ohe of the most exciting of the present elections is taking place to-day at the Wairau, wnere Air beymour.the late member, is being opposed by Mr, Henderson. So great is the festeeta m which Mr Seytnour is held as a inembor of the House of Representatives that his supporters have mustered from distant parts of the colony, Tauranga, Patea, and Nelson, in order to endeavor to secure his election. The Wallace left here with thirteen voters last night, and arrived at Picton this morning at 8.50, just fifty minutes too late for the morning train to Blenheim, but arrangements would no dotibt have been made for a special to be laid oh. We understand that Mr Curtis has this morning formally withdrawn from the contest for the VVairnea, for which district he was without his knowledge nominated as a candidate on Friday last. His withdrawal, of course, results in the unopposed return of Mr Shephard. Attention is called to the lecture to be given/by Mir Scott uader the auspices of the loupg Men's Christian Association tomorrow evening. The subject is an interesting one, namely, " Curiosities of Animal Life." telegram says :— The King of Burraah is again defying England, claiming the sovereignty of Krennee. The Viceroy of India. (Lori Lyttou) threatens that if he does not at once withdraw the claim, war will be declared against him by the British Government. ' The Qtago DaVy Times is responsible for the following:— We hear on what appears to be good authority that Sir George Grey will shortly retire from the lead of his party, as he contemplates going home.

Oddfellows' Provincial Candidate. Hall. Hall. Total. Pitt 212 287 499* Adams 133 2£6 429 Curtis 66 155 - 221 Graham 97 105 202